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US News Archive for December 2007:
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Turkey Says 150 Killed in Strikes on Rebel Kurds
Two Turkish airstrikes on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq hit more than 200 targets, the Turkish Army said...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Letter Writer for Mumbai?s Unlettered
Cellphones made the services of the professional letter writer obsolete, but G. P. Sawant isn?t complaining...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Cancer Fight Goes Nuclear, With Heavy Price Tag
A push by medical centers to turn nuclear particle accelerators into weapons against cancer reflects the best and worst of America?s health system, experts say...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Executions Decline Elsewhere, but Texas Holds Steady
With enthusiasm for executions dropping in most states, more than 60 percent of all American executions took place in Texas this year...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Disappointing Sales During Holiday Season
Spending during the Christmas season rose just 3.6 percent over last year, the weakest rate in at least four years, a report by a credit card company said...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
The Moment: Majed on MTV Arabia
Day 2 with this week's guest blogger, Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
News Unlikely to Fill TV Strike Holes
News programming has proved to be unpopular on network television, even as the writers' strike creates holes in prime time schedules, the Associated Press reports: With the exception of CBS ordering a few more ''48 Hours: Mysteries'' true crime yarns, the networks haven't looked to their news divisions to fill holes expected when viewers' favorite dramas [...]...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Doubts Engulf an American Aid Plan for Pakistan
The ambitious $750 million plan is imperiled by questions about whether the money could fall into the wrong hands...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
The Fifth Down: Chargers Put the ?D? in Denver
After a one-week reprieve, "Monday Night Football" was back to being a snoozer. The Chargers, determined to secure the No. 3 spot in the A.F.C., played inspired defense in a 23-3 victory over the Denver Broncos, their fifth win in a row. Playing only one half, LaDainian Tomlinson had his fourth straight 100-yard game and [...]...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Ousted Thai Leader Promises Return
With his backers claiming victory in a parliamentary election, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Tuesday that he was prepared to return to Thailand...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Parents Defend School?s Use of Shock Therapy
New York State officials trying to ban shock treatments have found an obstacle: parents of students given shocks...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
A School in Georgia as a Laboratory for Getting Along
At an unusual elementary school outside Atlanta, more than half the 380 students are refugees from some 40 countries...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Turkey Says 150 Killed in Strikes on Rebel Kurds
Two Turkish airstrikes on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq hit more than 200 targets, the Turkish Army said...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Democrats Try to Rein In Fees on Consulting
Resentment has been building at how presidential elections have become gold mines for media consultants...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Health Care Expansions Hit Roadblocks
The governors of California, Illinois and Pennsylvania proposed sweeping plans to restructure health care this year, but none will finish 2007 having signed a bill...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Officials Falling Behind on Mortgage Fraud Cases
Reports of suspected mortgage fraud have doubled since 2005, and government agencies say they cannot keep up...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Last-Minute Sales Help Retailers
A burst of shopping in the waning hours before Christmas helped the nation?s retailers meet their modest sales goals...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
NFL: Patriots set new record
New England Patriots clinch their 15th straight win with a 28-7 victory over Miami Dolphins...
BBC News - December 25, 2007
TV Decoder: News Unlikely to Fill TV Strike Holes
News programming has proved to be unpopular on network television, even as the writers' strike creates holes in prime time schedules, the Associated Press reports: With the exception of CBS ordering a few more ''48 Hours: Mysteries'' true crime yarns, the networks haven't looked to their news divisions to fill holes expected when viewers' favorite dramas [...]...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
A School in Georgia as a Laboratory for Getting Along
At an unusual elementary school outside Atlanta, more than half the 380 students are refugees from some 40 countries...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Health Care Expansions Hit Roadblocks
The governors of California, Illinois and Pennsylvania proposed sweeping plans to restructure health care this year, but none will finish 2007 having signed a bill...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Well Blog: Well: Talking to Kids About Santa
How to talk to your kids about Santa . . . and everything else...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Michael Kidd, Choreographer, Is Dead
Mr. Kidd was the award-winning choreographer of exuberant dance numbers for Broadway shows like ?Finian?s Rainbow? and ?Guys and Dolls? and Hollywood musicals including ?The Band Wagon? and ?Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.?...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
TV Decoder Blog: TV Decoder: Atomic Wedgie, the TV Series?
FremantleMedia, the production company behind "The Price Is Right" and the British version of "American Idol," wants to cash in on recent interest in Web-to-television programming deals. The company is pitching a television series based on the Atomic Wedgie brand of humorous and raunchy Internet video clips. Some of the clips, which were originally designed for [...]...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Merrill Lynch Sells Stake to Singapore Firm
Merrill Lynch agreed on Monday to sell $5 billion of new stock to an investor from Singapore and a smaller stake to a domestic firm...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Parents Defend School?s Use of Shock Therapy
New York State officials trying to ban the use of shock treatments have found a large obstacle in their paths: the parents of students who are given the shocks...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Democrats Try to Rein In Fees on Consulting
Resentment has been building at how, win or lose, presidential elections have become gold mines for the media consultants who dominate modern campaigns...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Oscar Peterson, 82, Jazz?s Piano Virtuoso, Dies
Oscar Peterson?s dazzling piano playing made him one of the most popular jazz artists in history...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Widening of Health Care in States Hits Roadblocks
The governors of California, Illinois and Pennsylvania proposed sweeping plans to restructure health care this year, but none will finish 2007 with bills passed and signed...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Singapore: Temasek Raises Stake
Temasek Holdings, the biggest shareholder in Standard Chartered, increased its stake in the British bank to 18 percent, increasing the financial services investments in its $100 billion portfolio. Temasek bought 12 million shares of Standard Chartered, raising its holding by one percentage point, the bank said in a filing. Standard Chartered gets most of its profit from Asia and spent more than $2.7 billion since 2006 on acquisitions, including Hsinchu International Bank in Taiwan and Union Bank Ltd. in Pakistan. The shares purchased by Temasek, worth £220 million ($436 million), lift the total holding to 253.7 million shares...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Switzerland: UBS Examined
The country?s banking regulator is planning to find out how UBS racked up $10 billion in write-downs related to the subprime lending problems in the United States. ?We have to look how the situation got so far? into a loss, a spokesman for the Federal Banking Commission, Alain Bichsel, said. ?It?s our job.? On Dec. 10, UBS announced the largest subprime write-downs by any European bank and said it would raise $16.8 billion to improve its financial strength. Mr. Bichsel said that the bank?s response to the losses was ?very good? and that UBS would not face an ?investigation in the legal sense.? There is no evidence of any wrongdoing by UBS, Europe?s largest bank by assets, he added. A spokesman for UBS, Serge Steiner, declined to comment...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Britain: Deal Reached on S.I.V. Sale
An agreement has been reached on the sale of Cheyne Finance, a structured investment vehicle now known as S.I.V. Portfolio, to bidders including Goldman Sachs, the fund?s receivers, Deloitte & Touche said. The $7 billion S.I.V. Portfolio, managed by the hedge fund Cheyne Capital Management, went into receivership in September. The agreement comes after talks with a number of bidders over the last few weeks and consultation with the informal creditors? committees, Deloitte said. Under the deal, certain reinvestment opportunities will be offered to some existing creditors of the company. S.I.V.?s, held by banks, hedge funds or other institutions, issue a mixture of short-term debt and capital and buy longer-term assets, which may pay more interest than the amount they pay on their notes. The vehicles encountered trouble in August when liquidity in the credit markets dried up as investors faced exposure to the subprime market...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Canada: Railway Buys Oil Sands Line
The Canadian National Railway Company extended its reach further into Alberta?s oil sands region with a deal to buy and rebuild the struggling Athabasca Northern Railway. CN Rail will pay 25 million Canadian dollars for Athabasca Northern and pay 135 million Canadian dollars over the next three years to rebuild the 202-mile rail line under a long-term agreement with three major shippers. The Athabasca Northern had been threatened with abandonment because of deteriorating tracks. It was owned by Cando Contracting...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Canada: Airline Added to Inquiry
Air Canada said it had been included in the European Commission?s investigation into price fixing on freight services. The airline added that it might suffer a liability as a result. Air Canada, Canada?s biggest airline, said it was cooperating with investigators. It said it had received an official charge sheet, which sets out the commission?s preliminary assessment in its investigation into suspected anticompetitive cargo pricing activities. The activities include the levying of certain fuel surcharges by a number of airlines and cargo operators in breach of antitrust laws. The European Commission last week charged several airlines, including British Airways , Lufthansa and SAS, with fixing freight service prices. Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines said they too had received a notice from the commission...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
China: Company Plans Share Buyback
The online game operator Giant Interactive Group said that it would buy back up to $200 million worth of American depositary shares. The company plans to fund the repurchases from available working capital, it said in a statement...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Whatever Game?s Integrity, Fans Show Up
Despite the Mitchell report, which some say deals a blow to baseball?s integrity, fans don?t appear to be boycotting the sport. In fact, quite the opposite...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Britain: A Drop in Home Prices
Home prices in Britain fell the most in three years in December, and the threat of more declines may cause the property market to seize up in 2008, said Hometrack Ltd., a London-based research group. The average cost of a home in England and Wales slipped for a third month, dropping 0.3 percent to £175,200 ($348,350). ?The second half of the year has seen a major reversal in confidence,? Richard Donnell, director for research at Hometrack, said in a statement. ?Just as the financial markets have faced a liquidity squeeze, so the housing market is in danger of facing its own liquidity squeeze.? Prices increased 3 percent from a year earlier, the least in 18 months, Hometrack said...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Memo Pad
HOLIDAY TRAVEL More than 65 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Christmas-New Year?s holiday period, about the same as last year, AAA says. The automobile club said that that gas prices and air fares would be ?well above last year?s levels.? Domestic air fares are averaging more than 15 percent higher than fares at the same time last year, and gas prices are up an average of 70 cents a gallon. Rates at midlevel hotels are 4 percent higher than they were at Christmas last year and 9 percent higher than at New Year?s. But average car-rental rates are 4 percent lower this Christmas and are expected to be 13 percent lower for New Year?s, AAA said...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Officials Say They Are Falling Behind on Mortgage Fraud Cases
Reports of suspected mortgage fraud have doubled since 2005, and government agencies that investigate and prosecute such cases say they cannot keep up...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Price Range for Morgan Stock
SHANGHAI — Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, and the Chinese government said Monday that the bank had determined the range of prices to be used when China?s international investment fund converts $5 billion in securities into Morgan Stanley stock...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
A TV Doctor Who Travels Into Trouble
Some of the riskiest aspects of working on the television series ?Dr. Danger? occur in the air, not on the ground...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
A Partridge, a Pear Tree, a Price Tag That Grows
This year, the song?s true love would spend $19,507 to give every whimsy on the 12th day, according to a yearly holiday index tabulated by PNC Wealth Management...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
United Rentals Will Not Appeal Ruling
United Rentals said that it would not appeal a Delaware judge?s ruling that a private equity firm cannot be forced to complete its $4 billion buyout of the rental equipment operator...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Harrah's Close to Largest Casino Buyout
Harrah?s said the National Indian Gaming Commission approved the company?s $17.7 billion purchase by Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group, pending final review...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
All-Business Class Airline Ceases Flights
Maxjet Airways, which flew between London and three United States cities, took what it called a ?drastic measure? because of soaring fuel prices and the deteriorating credit market...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Hyundai Appoints a Chief Executive for North America
Hyundai Motor America said Jong Eun Kim would become president and chief executive of North American operations, based in Fountain Valley, Calif...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
When Faith and Work Are at Odds
Many professionals of the Jewish, Muslim and Hindu faiths regularly have to balance their religion and their jobs...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Wyeth Hit by Generic Competition and Regulatory Setback
Shares in Wyeth fell sharply on Monday after its heartburn medicine attracted generic competition and American regulators delayed its experimental drug for preventing bone loss...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Professor Cites Bible in Faulting Tax Policies
The work of a professor at the University of Alabama Law School has prompted some other scholars to scour religious texts to explore the moral basis of tax and spending policies...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
For the Lost and Stranded, Help From a Smiling Face
For forlorn travelers, volunteers at Travelers Aid stations around the country offer a friendly face and a helping hand...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Hedge Fund Increases Its Stake in Target
Pershing Square Capital Management said on Monday that it had raised its stake in the discount retailer Target to nearly 10 percent and had met with management to discuss ways to bolster the company?s share price...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
In San Francisco, It?s Work to Find Toys
San Franciscans searching for the perfect toy this holiday season have had the added hurdle of finding a place to buy it...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Jay-Z to Quit His Day Job as President of Def Jam
After an unusual three-year turn in the corporate suite, Jay-Z, the rap superstar, said Monday that he would step down from his post as president of Def Jam Recordings...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Restructuring Aims to Give Canada?s Debt Market a $33 Billion Lift
A tentative restructuring agreement should unlock $33 billion of Canada?s debt market that has been frozen since August, its chief architect said...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
A Threat So Big, Academics Try Collaboration
Students and professors from different disciplines are collaborating in the study of the environmental ramifications of production and consumption...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
It?s Downhill for Sleds, Lamentably
Toy retailers across the country have largely pushed sleds and toboggans off their shelves and out of their catalog pages, victims of warmer weather and the changing taste of children...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Merrill Lynch Sells Stake to Singapore Firm
Merrill Lynch agreed on Monday to sell $5 billion of new stock to an investor from Singapore and a smaller stake to a domestic firm...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
Markets Up After a Deal by Merrill
Shares rose on Monday after an investment deal raised hopes that wealthy foreign investors would come to the rescue of America?s ailing investment firms...
New York Times - December 25, 2007
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